The New England Patriots have their next backup quarterback.

Matt Corral was claimed by the team off waivers on Thursday, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported. With the move, Corral goes straight to the Patriots' 53-man roster, presumably making him New England's lead backup quarterback behind Mac Jones. By rule, Corral will also have to stick on the Patriots' 53-man roster for the first three weeks of the season.

Corral was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. However, he suffered a Lisfranc injury in the Panthers' preseason game against the Patriots that season, ending his rookie year before it officially began. To make matters complicated for Corral, he was drafted when Matt Rhule was the team's head coach. Rhule was fired in the middle of the 2022 season and Frank Reich was hired to replace him over the offseason. The team opted to trade up to the No. 1 overall pick to select Bryce Young and named him the starting quarterback at the start of training camp. Corral was released on Wednesday.

The Patriots opted to claim Corral off waivers on Thursday, two days after they released Bailey Zappe and Malik Cunningham (though both players are on the practice squad). To add to the connection to the Patriots, the Panthers traded with the Patriots to receive the third-round pick to select Corral, giving up the picks that ended up being Zappe and Marte Mapu (2023 third-round pick).

Corral completed 59.6 percent of his passes for 249 yards with zero touchdowns and an interception in the preseason. The 24-year-old was a star at Ole Miss in 2021, throwing for 3,349 yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions with 614 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. In the season prior, he threw for 3,337 yards, 29 touchdowns and 14 interceptions with 506 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.